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August - September 2012 “In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy.” A New RoutineI have been inspired lately by synchronicity. It has been showing up a lot (I mean all the time), which has been wonderful during this very stressful time for our office and community, as Penn State dramatically changed their insurance. I have been intending on writing to you about the power of change and times of change, like the one we are all in with summer relaxation ending and the routine of school returning. Since most of us are changing our daily routine anyway right now, it's a really valuable time to add in self-care habits like exercise and diet – and there's no shadow of the New Year's resolution failure looming. Where synchronicity comes in is that over the last week, every day at least one of you, my clients, has come in and shared about changes you already committed to and implemented, every one of them successful! I always work to hold myself to a high standard as your doctor by walking my talk, eating well, exercising, seeing my DC and acupuncturist, doing yoga, and nurturing myself, with the hopes that I can inspire you. The truth is, you guys inspire me. Every day. Thank you. Enjoy the leaves, News from UsLAST FEW WEEKS FOR THE REFERRAL RACE!In celebration of our SIXTH anniversary, we are once again holding our Referral Race! What better gift can you give your friends and loved ones than the gift of health? From August 15th through October 1st, 2012, each time you refer a friend, co-worker or family member to Centre Chiropractic your name will be put into a drawing for a variety of prizes – the more people you refer, the greater the odds are that you will win a prize. Prizes include a $100 yoga gift certificate, a free dinner at Kelly's, a custom cervical pillow or an 8 GB iPod Touch. Past winners have usually referred 3 or 4 people, so it is easy to win. Each client you refer will receive their first visit for a $10 donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This visit includes a consultation, exam and x-rays if necessary. Also, if you are an inactive client you can receive an updated exam, x-rays if necessary, and an adjustment for a $20 donation!
Birthday Fun… Birthday Cards (Last Reminder for a While) Help Us Help More PeoplePlease take a moment to like us on Facebook, write a Recommendation at LinkedIn, or write a short review at Yelp. Thank you very, very much! For those of you who may have missed it, we spent several months producing a series of videos on chiropractic, Gonstead, adjusting and spiritual psychology which are all posted on our website and on our video channel on YouTube. In the coming year my intention is to record a series of videos for the most common stretching and strengthening exercises we do so you'll have a visual reference in addition to memory and handouts.Local NewsStop Highmark's PMMP - Please ReadMost of you received a rare, ”special” email from me over the holiday weekend detailing the drastic change made by Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield to their insurance policy. This is a significant event that, unless revoked, will undoubtedly lead to the closure of hundreds of chiropractic, physical therapy and occupational therapy offices throughout Pennsylvania while Highmark sits on a $3.8 billion reserve. Not all Highmark plans are affected, and that is because some employers ”opted out.” Penn State opted in, and without informing PSU employees. Your voice is powerful and I encourage everyone to contact your HR department and express your opinion. Several of our clients who work at Penn State have asked if they could pass on our letter to coworkers who are unaware of these changes or who have DCs or PTs who are trying to figure out what's going on. In service to that request, I am hosting several documents on our website that you can share with your coworkers. Thanks for your help with this. Original Highmark bulletin to providers announcing the change (6/2012) Centre Chiropractic's letter to clients explaining the change (8/2012) Centre Chiropractic's email update (9/2/2012) Pennsylvania Chiropractic Association documents: Report from PCA on the change and ugly details about the organizations (8/2012) Your Chiropractor Is JudgmentalI think most of you have heard me comment at one time or another about my take on judgment – that it is one of the only real ”sins, ” and that it corrupts us from the inside out. Usually when we judge others it's because we are projecting; because we see something in them that we dislike in ourselves. Sometimes it's because we can imagine ourselves the same thing, something we judge as wrong, in similar circumstances. When I share these things, it comes from a place of self-examination and correction. I can talk authoritatively about judgment because I have done and still do it. My first week in med school I was taken by the character of one chiropractic technique, called Gonstead, for a variety of reasons. My first year in med school I found myself experiencing strong judgment for other chiropractic techniques, in a way where I even caught myself commenting on other people for their ”bad choices. ” This behavior was unlike me. On reflection, I eventually realized that what was going on was that I was at a point in my education where I didn't understand the physical sciences but had chosen a path. I didn't even know the names of all the parts of a vertebrae yet, and here I was casting judgment in a dogmatic way on other students. What was going on was that I was afraid that I had made a bad decision but couldn't tell because I didn't know enough to know. Chiropractic is a hard profession in many ways. In addition to having to manage the preconceptions and judgments of the insurance companies and other providers in town, the profession has a set of hundred-year-old problems caused by our predecessors. We have to ”fight” bias based in things as simple as the founder having been a magnetic healer previously, or old timers insisting that all disease and all dysfunction is caused by nerve pressure. (This is not true: plenty of things cause high blood pressure, for example. What is true is that with nerve pressure your body cant' respond to these other causes the way it's supposed to be able to. You can't respond or heal as effectively and can't have full health or performance.) ) When one looks at the breadth and scope of the medical industry, it is overwhelming how entrenched it is. This is not to say that medicine, surgery, pharmaceuticals, or any part of the industry is bad. What is bad is when it becomes an industry, because the focus shifts from people to profit, and the organizations involved develop a vested interest in simply fighting for their own survival independent of their original mission. Part of being a doctor of chiropractic involves having to gently and neutrally work, each and every day, to re-educate and re-mind our clients that the body knows how to heal itself in the majority of cases, and that what we've all been taught – to pop a pill the moment a pain occurs – is often helping your inconvenience, but not your health. It is hard not to be dogmatic in this work, because we are fighting our own acculturation. Sometimes I judge myself for this, sometimes I judge medicine and the AMA for this. Sometimes I judge chiropractors for this. In all honesty, I don't know how you make a convincing documentary on the history of the AMA and chiropractic, on the medical industry, without being dramatic and judgmental in order to try and move the conversation ”back to the middle. ” I don't like being dogmatic, but in order to overcome the idea that the Earth is not at the center of the Universe, sometimes I find I need to speak more loudly to get the pendulum back to center. It doesn't matter whether you're a creationist, an evolutionist, or somewhere in betwen… modern medicine is not yet smarter than God or Nature. Be well, and be patient with me. New ResearchHigher Blood Sugar Linked to Reduced Brain FunctionThis month Australian researchers announced that they have found a link between high blood sugar and brain shrinkage. Even people with ”high normal” levels showed a significant reduction in the size of their brain, especially areas linked with memory and thinking skills. This explains a lot about me! Read more… Once Again, Medicine Finds Subluxation Is BadResearchers in England recently found yet another connection between nerve pressure and health problems. In this case, misalignment at the base of the skull pinching a nerve was found to be responsible for random and painful spasm of the major muscle in the front of the neck, called torticollis. This could leave kids with their heads stuck looking to the side and down for hours. I have Gonstead texts dating back to the 1930's that indicate a patient with torticolllis should have this joint checked…. Read the abstract here… Chiropractic Care Can Reduce Cholesterol?A recent case study of sufficient design to be published in several medical journals showed a marked decrease in cholesterol in a woman being treated with chiropractic and no other interventions. Read more… Medical, Inc.I was excited to learn a group of people had gathered to finance and film a documentary about the history of the AMA, the chiropractic profession, and the complex relationship between business and health care in our country. While I fear that there may be a lot of ”against-ness” and negativity in the film, I think this can be an important step to help Americans see how intense and consistent the attack on ”alternative” practitioners in the United States has been. 
The Food Industry from an InsiderThis month I ran across another great TED talk from a woman whose near loss of a child to a food allergy started her research into how the food industry has affected disease in the United States. I know I posted this on Centre Chiropractic's Facebook page, but I also know not all of you are "friends." If you only take time to watch one of these videos this month, please watch this one – it is informative, horrifying and inspiring all in one. 
MovingI recently saw a moving piece that relates a parable I've heard before, but this is sweet, to the point, and inspires gratitude. 
Dr. Deepak Chopra, Quantum HealingThis month's recommended book of the month is a cherished one for me: it is the book that started my healing journey. In the early 1990's I had several months on disability while healing from a retinal surgery and started reading this book. It was life-changing for me, changed the way I related to our healing power, and started me thinking about working in the healing arts. Several copies are available in our office's lending library, so I hope you grab a copy and I hope it is inspirational for you, too! FarewellThanks for your participation, and thanks for your feedback. In addition to linking to my website in order to keep the newsletter concise, these will all be archived on the website so you can always go back later to read, research or forward content. It's also important to me that you know that I am never compensated in any way for any of the promotions in this newsletter; individuals, businesses and products are featured because I believe in them. Subscribe to the Centred on Health newsletter… As most of you know, my mission is to support as many people as is possible in living healthier lives and making more informed choices. This newsletter is designed to communicate current research, information and perspectives in service to that mission and is provided free of charge and without obligation. It may or may not contain promotional events or advertising for Dr. Matthew Hertert and Centre Chiropractic. Centred on Health values your privacy. We do not sell, rent, loan or transfer your personal information to anyone else. For more detail, please view our privacy policy. |
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